Tony Blair tells the New Statesman “I can’t come into front-line politics. There’s just too much hostility, and also there are elements of the media who would literally move to destroy mode if I tried to do that”. So what is he up to? Blair says he plans to use technology to “build a platform” that will create a forum for debate without abuse. Less likely that this is some naff social network idea – BlairBook or Tonblr? – more likely he is talking about a Blairite version of Momentum.

“One advantage of today’s social media is that you can build networks. Movements can begin at scale and build speed quickly. You’re not going to relate the answers to the challenges that we face by a Twitter exchange, so what I’m interested in doing is asking: what are the types of ideas that we should be taking forward? How do we provide a service to people who are in the front line of politics, so that we can provide some thinking and some ideas?”

Blair says there are millions of “politically homeless” people in Britain, he wants his new “platform” to represent the Europhile, metropolitan, Blairite to LibDemmy liberal elite. Blair’s organisation has already hired former Mandy SpAd Patrick Loughran and Scottish Labour loser Jim Murphy, and he has been in talks with Nick Clegg. Problem for Tony, as he recognises, is the political forces that exist today are very different to when he was winner…